# The KPager Handbook

Antonio
Larrosa Jimenez

    larrosa@kde.org

04/12/1998
1.00.00

This Handbook describes KPager Version 1.0

KDE
pager
kpager
desktop
overview

## Introduction

KPager gives you a thumbnail sketch of all your desktops. It is a handy tool to let you see, resize or close windows on any desktop and move windows around within or between desktops.

I hope you get as much use and fun out of KPager as I did developing it.

`Antonio Larrosa Jiménez` larrosa@kde.org

## Working with KPager

KPager is very intuitive to use. This help is mostly not needed, but I will give here some instructions and hints to optimize use of the application.

### Moving windows

If you have a window that you would like to move to another position, you can "Drag and Drop" (DND) it by pressing the left mouse button on its minimized view and moving the mouse to the new position, then release the button, and you are done.

Although this doesn't seems very useful by itself, it can be very useful because you are not restricted to moves within a desktop. You can then move any window from one desktop to another without even changing desktops.

### The global desktop

This isn't really one of your typical desktops . The global desktop is used to quickly see which windows are running on all desktops, that is, which windows have the sticky bit set.

You can move windows to and from the global desktop to set or clear the sticky bit.

To hide or show the global desktop you can use the corresponding item on the `Options` menu, or press the `0` key.

### Resizing windows

This is a new feature not found in any other pager. You can press the middle mouse button (or in some systems, left and right button at the same time), on the window you want to resize, and move the mouse to get the desired size.

### The window properties menu

You can get the window properties menu by doing a right click on the window you want to get/set properties. With the window properties menu you can:

- Maximize a window.

- Iconify a window.

- Set or clear the sticky bit of a window (Note that you can also use the global desktop for this).

- Move a window to another desktop (Note that you can also use drag & drop).

- Close a window.

There is also a submenu that is identical to the `Option` menu that is in the menubar. You can use this menu when the menubar is hidden (so that you can get it back :) )

Note also that when you do a right click on a point where there's no window, you only get the `Option` menu.

## Customizing KPager & Advanced features

### Draw mode

This specifies the mode in which KPager paints the windows, this are the available modes:

- `Plain` - Draw windows as other pagers (just rectangles)

- `Icon` - Draw windows as rectangles and the icon of the application on it, so that you can easily recognize the application.

- `Pixmap` - Grab the window from the screen and draw a resized screenshot of it. Note that this is an extremely nice option but at the same time, it is resource hogging (in fact, I would recommend a 200 Mhz machine with a good graphic card to use it)

### 2 Rows mode

KPager can be customized to display the desktops in a row (as the Irix pager does), or in two rows (as kpanel does). You can change this setting in the `Options` menu.

### One click action

This option is used to select if you want that a single click on a desktop view change the current desktop, or you have to do a double click.

Note that you can always use a double click to change the current desktop

## Installation

KPager gets installed automatically with KDE in its KDEbase package since version 1.1

### How to obtain KPager

KPager is a core application of the KDE project http://www.kde.org. KPager can be found on the KDEbase package, which is at ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/, the main ftp site of the KDE project. You can also download it from any of the many ftp mirrors whose list is at http://www.kde.org/mirrors.html.

Additionaly, KPager has a homepage where you can follow its development, see some information about it, some screenshots, etc.

### Requirements

KPager needs the KDElibs and Qt to compile. Qt 1.41 is not absolutely needed, but it's highly recommended since it's needed to get xdnd support (that is, to be able to move windows). To run KPager you need to run KWM or any other KDE compliant window manager.

### Compilation and installation

Since KPager is distributed within the KDEbase package, you should not have any trouble compiling or installing it. If you run into any problem, do not hesitate to email any of the KDE mailing lists, or send a report directly to me.

## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

- `Q:` How do I get back the menu bar ? `A:` By pressing the `Space` key, you get the menu bar on and off. You can also right click on KPager and then select the `Show Menubar` item on the `Options` submenu.

- `Q:` How do I switch off the Global Desktop ? `A:` You can use the `0` key to switch it on and off. You can also use kpager's menu, or even the right click menu to toggle its state.

- `Q:` The program starts in a very strange position/size. `A:` KPager always save its last position and size so when you run it again, it is restored exactly as it was (as well as the rest of the options). Just move and resize it where you want, and it will always appear in that position.